Kickin' It in the Cloud

It was interesting to see the press coverage Microsoft got last week for its Office 2010 launch. Almost universally, reports from both technical and mainstream press around the world focused solely on Microsoft's cloud solution, the Office Web Apps. But these weren't just stories about the web. They were full of drama and intrigue. Here, they intoned, was Microsoft, finally poised to attack its main rival, Google, in the cloud.

Well, I've got bad news for those of you hoping for a fight. That battle, alas, is already over. And it is Microsoft, not Google, that walked away victorious.

What's that, you say? You've been led to believe that Google is some kind of cloud computing powerhouse and that the mathematical geniuses from Silicon Valley have already sewn up this next generation market before that poor, slow moving technology dinosaur from Redmond could even figure out that the world had changed.

You've been sold a bill of goods, folks.

But don't feel bad. We've all been misled, myself included. We've all succumbed to the all-too-easy-to-believe alternate reality where Google actually delivers solutions that real customers want, where companies actually pay Google for these services, and where Google actually makes money on anything other than online advertising.

It's time to wake up. Google sells ads. Stupid, annoying, little ads. That’s quite literally the only service the company offers that generates any appreciable amount of revenues. Google is a one-hit wonder. And it's one hit is pretty shabby, when you think about it.

Sure, Google has hundreds of always-in-beta services on the web, from what I can tell. (And some that have simply had their beta tags removed because, well, certain customers don't like to think they're using beta products.) But these services are the technology equivalent of throwing spaghetti on the wall and seeing what sticks. Sure, some are popular. But they're only popular when they're free. None of them makes any money. Not really.

What tipped me off to the fact that we are all living in a Matrix-style alternate reality—one that Google is all too willing to let pass uncommented on—were two disconnected announcements that were made over the past couple of months. In late March, Google announced that it now has over 25 million users of its Google Apps service, which first became available four years earlier. That sounds pretty impressive until you realize that the majority of those customers don't pay Google a cent. Most Google Apps "customers" simply utilize the free version of the service.

Microsoft also made a similar announcement, this one dating back to late April. At that time, Microsoft revealed that it had garnered over 40 million customers to its own Business Productivity Online Suite (BPOS). The cloud-based BPOS, which competes directly with Google Apps, offers hosted versions of Exchange, SharePoint, Office Communications, and Live Meeting. But unlike Google Apps, there is no free version of BPOS. Every one of those 40 million customers pays a monthly fee for the service. And BPOS has been on the market for less than two years, which is less than half the time of Google Apps.

What's perhaps most amazing about this reality check is that Google's Exchange alternative, the Google Apps versions of Gmail and Google Calendar, are inarguably the company's only functionally competitive products for businesses. As I've discussed previously, its Office alternative, Google Docs, is laughably bad, and this month's introduction of Microsoft's Office Web Apps renders it superfluous. But if Google's only credible challengers can't even compete, why is it that the company has been so routinely considered not just viable competition but, in fact, the supposed market leader?

Google has some interesting services, yes, but truth be told Microsoft is kicking Google where it hurts—in the cloud computing markets that matter. And while Google's advertising dominance provides the company with the financial resources to artificially prop up its underperforming other products (i.e., all of them) that's not exactly the kind of business model that companies or individuals should embrace when they're looking for solutions on which to bet their future.

My point here is simple. I'm not saying that Microsoft has all the answers. If anything, I wish the company were more aggressive. But if you look at this market objectively, it's pretty clear that Google has none of the answers. Unless, of course, you're looking for creepy technology that can match sponsored links to the content of your email.

Discuss this Article 21

I do understand that this site is for Bill fan boy's. But c'mon. If you have worked with Google tooling you know that Google Beta = Microsoft Version 3, at least. (Not to mention when the come out with "Vista" quality code). Having done over 100 LIVE Google projects (and likely 1000 MS) here is my view.
- Gmail vs. anything MS is putting out => Gmail hands down wins
- Offive vs. Google Doc's. => Microsoft is easy the better solution
- AppEngine vs. Azure => For new custom apps, Google all the way. Azure storage is bogus and using their Azure SQL ... not so exciting. I actually tell my customers to use Amazon.
- AppEngine vs. Azure => For old Windows only code... yeahhh that is MS. But it does not work so well regardless.

So in general. Get the facts, do your work (actual installs, go lives) and you will figure out that there are the right tools for the task. In some cases MS, in other Google and then there is Amazon, Rackspace and few others. But PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE stop the bashing and get on with getting good information out there!!

I fully expect a lot of flames over this article! But what Paul says is true for now. From a developer perspective, maybe Google offers a better environment. But as of today, Google apps are not even on the same planet as Office. In order to sustain and grow their cloud market, Google will need something truly competitive that they can sell (for less). Google's early cloud presence along with Microsoft's sluggish pace toward the cloud sure made it look like Google was the run away winner. But MS has now embraced the cloud, and Google's time is running short as far as bringing viable, competitive, commercial-grade products to compete with Microsoft's mature library of offerings. Let's see if Google can move quickly enough to prevent Microsoft from dominating the cloud as they currently do the OS market.

I'm sorry to say, this is the second time in a year I've felt compelled to post a comment on anything I've read on the web.

First time around it was another post by Thurott, a piece trully deserving of being sent straight to the Office product team fanmail, not placed in a supposedly objective journal.

This time around, well... let's just say I'm not alone questioniong the value and credibility of such a puff piece.

Sure Paul, MS rules, I just hope you are making enough money out of being a chearleader for everything that comes out of Redmond. after all, you should get a few bucks back in exchange for your credibility.

There is no doubt that Google apps have value. First of all, they're free! Google Earth (and maps) is truly a wonder and many, many organizations use them for everything from driving directions to their front door to complex geographic infrastructure layouts. I think that what Paul is talking about (and what I agreed with him on) were the apps that were competing with MS Office. Yea, I occasionally use Google spreadsheet for sharing a list with someone in another part of the country. But for major projects, it's just not even close to enough. It may well be the best cloud-based product, but that's only in comparison to other cloud-based products. If that's the best the cloud has to offer, I won't be giving up my copy of Office any time soon. If MS can bring most of Excel, Word, Powerpoint, etc. to the cloud and add the ability for multi-user spreadsheets, etc. for a reasonable price, they'll take that market. That certainly doesn't mean that Google or someone else can't capture other aspects of the cloud. So far, Google's strategy is to deploy apps, mostly for free, that bring huge volumes of users to their web, making the numbers look appealing to advertisers and generating the tremendous revenue that advertising provides. That may very well be a solid long-term business model (it sure has been working so far!). But the fact is, Microsoft's far more diverse model has been shaken by Google and the cloud, and Google is riding high. If MS can successfully draw Office users to their own cloud apps, they could turn the table. There's no bashing going on here, I'm as big a Google fan as anyone. But from a business standpoint Microsoft's position is stronger in every way. MS has a LOT to learn about marketing in the cloud, and Google still has that major advantage - MS really has only a skeleton cloud framework at this point. It's like the two are working toward the same center from opposite ends. Let's see where they meet....

I am so turned off by this article. I come to this site to learn about Microsoft technologies - because I support them for a living - not to read Google bashing. I happen to use and rely on a slew of Google services as well. Cancelling my subscription - looking elsewhere...

I am so turned off by this article. I come to this site to learn about Microsoft technologies - because I support them for a living - not to read Google bashing. I happen to use and rely on a slew of Google services as well. Cancelling my subscription - looking elsewhere...

Something doesn't jive here. Over at PCMAG.com today I read: " Google Docs isn't perfectfar from it, as you'll seebut overall, it's the best cloud-based application suite we've got." and "As for Microsoft's Office Web Apps, Microsoft still hasn't made the full suite publicly available, so we'll have to wait for a full comparison."

They claim that Google Docs is the best cloud-based application suite we've got today and you claim it's 'laughably bad".
They point out that Microsoft Office Web Apps isn't even publicly available yet and you claim the battle is over and Microsoft has walked away the victor.
Hmmm...someone is being objective and someone is spewing biased propaganda...

I think Mr./Ms. Hedlund either works for Google or has a lot of money invested in Google stock and doesn't want to see his investment disappear. All Paul was doing in the article was dispelling a myth that Google has perpetrated.

I neither work for Google nor own any of their stock. I'm just calling bullshit on this article. Yeah, I'm sure a bunch of super intelligent people are sitting around at Google saying "Throw it against the wall and see if it sticks! We have no plan!!!" You expect me to believe Google Docs is 'laughably bad'??? I live in Google Docs. Meanwhile, in other news - Microsoft today annouces 'the decision to discontinue the sale, support and development of the Response Point phone system for small businesses' - gee, I feel sorry for those who invested untold money and manhours down that dead end...

Hedlund, I meant only that my own take on this wasn't intended as bashing. Sorry that I didn't make that more clear - I didn't mean to sound like an apologist for content other than my own. What you've quoted there does indeed have a strong resemblance to bashing. I also failed to make an important point - that is that Microsoft could totally self-destruct in the cloud. They've done it many times before in other areas (as you point out with Response Point). My point is that as far as taking large, paying customers from their hard drives to the cloud for office-type apps, MS (for now) is in a better position simply because (IMHO) taking a mature application to the web can be done far more quickly than developing a truly competitive application.

"Google sells ads. Stupid, annoying, little ads."
"Google is a one-hit wonder. And it's one hit is pretty shabby, when you think about it."
"Google has hundreds of always-in-beta services on the web"
"Google Docs, is laughably bad"

This is supposed to be a tech journal. There is no information of technical value whatsoever. If this article were published on a personal blog, I wouldn't have commented at all. Everyone has an opinion and that's fine. This is supposed to be a site for information of Microsoft technologies, not shit talking the competition. This is venom worthy of an Apple fanboy site...

Still too early to proclaim a cloud-computing winner. Will it be Microsoft...maybe. Will it be Google...maybe. Heck, might be some other company. But does it really matter? Use what works and what gets the job done...regardless of who provides it.

I do understand that this site is for Bill fan boy's. But c'mon. If you have worked with Google tooling you know that Google Beta = Microsoft Version 3, at least. (Not to mention when the come out with "Vista" quality code). Having done over 100 LIVE Google projects (and likely 1000 MS) here is my view.
- Gmail vs. anything MS is putting out => Gmail hands down wins
- Offive vs. Google Doc's. => Microsoft is easy the better solution
- AppEngine vs. Azure => For new custom apps, Google all the way. Azure storage is bogus and using their Azure SQL ... not so exciting. I actually tell my customers to use Amazon.
- AppEngine vs. Azure => For old Windows only code... yeahhh that is MS. But it does not work so well regardless.

So in general. Get the facts, do your work (actual installs, go lives) and you will figure out that there are the right tools for the task. In some cases MS, in other Google and then there is Amazon, Rackspace and few others. But PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE stop the bashing and get on with getting good information out there!!

I am so turned off by this article. I come to this site to learn about Microsoft technologies - because I support them for a living - not to read Google bashing. I happen to use and rely on a slew of Google services as well. Cancelling my subscription - looking elsewhere...

I am so turned off by this article. I come to this site to learn about Microsoft technologies - because I support them for a living - not to read Google bashing. I happen to use and rely on a slew of Google services as well. Cancelling my subscription - looking elsewhere...

Thanks cool Lorentzen - I see what you're saying. I fully expect MS to be a powerhouse in this arena. It remains to be seen whether or not they can pull it off, as Paul points out, they aren't as agressive as they could be. Then again, they already won this battle according to Paul.
For fun, I fired up Excel in web apps and tried to recreate some Google Spreadsheets I've got.
1 - I couldn't figure out how to freeze the top row in Excel Web Apps
2 - No charts in Excel Web Apps???
3 - No autofil capabilities

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